Royal Princess Academy
by HopeForGood
Summary: The Royal Princess Academy is school for elitist girls;such as, Snow White, Aurora and Cinderella. Through the girls' school days they discover mysteries and dark secrets of the most perfect school in the land. Together they support each other, form new friendships and chase after their dreams.
1. Home Sweet Home

**Snow White:**

"You'll need this, you'll definitely need this!" Mother said while grabbing dresses, skirts and other stuff I had never even touched from my wardrobe onto a huge pile of clothes on my bed. While, Maria the head maid and some other maids neatly folded them into my many suitcases.

"l won't need them all," I insisted while pulling some clothes that I knew most definitely wouldn't wear.

Mother gently tugged them out of my grasp and hastily shoved them back into the suitcases, "you never know when you might have a surprise party or ball or if an important guest comes to the school."

"Mother, I'm going to school the most number of ball dresses I'll need are maybe two or three at the most."

"Tsk," She muttered disapprovingly.

"I'd rather where a pair of comfortable pants rather than a tight dress anyway,"

"You will not be taking a single pair of pants, or I will have someone brought to the Palace to teach you rather than let you embarrass me by wearing men's clothing. When I was your age all I wanted was to wear fine silk dresses and elaborately decorated skirts. This is all your fault, Maria, for making her a pair of useless trousers." Mother said sternly while Maria turned her attention elsewhere with a guilty expression. However, Mother wasn't really mad at Maria rather at me for whining and begging Maria to sew me a pair of warm and comfortable pants. Maria was Mother's best friend since she could apparently remember. Maria was born in the Palace like Mother and was born in the same year but was a few months older. Maria's mother was the head maid of the Palace and was also my grandmother's best friend so their family was entwined with ours.

Maria was like a second mother to me. She had looked after me since the minute I was born and still devoted the same care and love to me as she did back then. She felt more than my like my mother than Mother did. She was always travelling to other kingdoms to solve issues and maintain peace and was rarely around. Even if she was in the Palace she was always busy helping Father with peace treaties, improvements for our kingdom and other noble deeds.

A guard came walked into the room, bowed and said, "Excuse me Your Highnesses, Your Majesty is wanted in the King's study."

"Yes, thank you," Mother said and gracefully walked away.

As soon as she walked out of the room I quickly grabbed the trousers out of the wardrobe and stuffed it into one of the suitcases.

"I don't think you should take those, Dear." Maria said.

"She'll never know and nothing bad will happen," I assured her.

"I do not like lying to your mother and seeing you disobey her. Your mother may be strict and tell you to act in strange ways but she knows best and wants the best for you." Maria said sternly.

"Well Maria I will definitely take your advice but first I have something for you," I said while pulling out a gold necklace with a gold pendant with Maria's name engraved on it in cursive writing.

"This is for you, Maria, but it will never make up for all things you have done and in fact nothing ever will."

Maria looked on the verge of tears, "I am sorry Your Highness but I am afraid I cannot take something as beautiful and valuable as that."

"Please take it. Consider it a gift from me even though I didn't make it."

She slowly nodded in agreement while I put the necklace around her neck and clicked the golden clasp into place. In all the commotion from the necklace Maria forgot about the pants so I happily walked out of my bedroom to Father's study.

Approaching the study I could over hear Mother and Father talking in serious voices but I couldn't make out what their important discussion was about. However, whatever the discussion was about ceased immediately when I knocked on the study's door. They both swivelled around with stern looks on their faces that melted into their normal sincere faces when they realised that it was only me.

"Am I interrupting anything important?" I asked.

"No, in fact we just discussing you and were hoping to have a little chat with you." Father said in a genuine tone but gave me feeling that this chat was going to be quite so little.

"We need to talk about your new school and more importantly you," Mother started. Oh no, I thought, this definitely wasn't going to end well.

"We are sending you to this school so you can be prepared for the challenges that will await you when you become the Queen. However, at the moment you are acting like you don't care at all about school, your future and how people." Father said.

"Yes, I do!" I yelled.

"Shh! Your father is talking this is the kind of behaviour we're talking about. Interrupting parents when they are talking, wearing men's clothes acting like a child."

"This behaviour is immature for a princess especially of your age. We are hoping that when you come back that you will be all grown and act like a proper princess. Have you seen any other child of your age in this kingdom with a better and more concrete future than you? No but thing that might stop you from that future is yourself."

Father had never spoken to me like this so it did hurt but I tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to pour out to stay strong and show that I was not a weak and immature little girl.

"You need to grow!" Father said while his voice turned into a shout and his face started to flush red.

Mother quickly out her arms around Father and frantically whispered for him to calm down. Slowly Father's anger melted away as fast as snow does when the sun comes out as soon as he gazed into Mother's eyes full of nothing but passion and love. Mother was the face of calmness and peacefulness. She was probably the most beautiful woman in the kingdom and one of the most successful students of her time at school. She had ebony black hair that cascaded down to hips in waves, emerald green eyes and red dewy lips. Father on the other hand was a charming, gallant and popular king, everyone loved him. In his time at his school he was the ladies' man and the most popular boy at school. Sometimes I couldn't imagine him being the charming prince that flirted with every girl he met and made girls faint at the sight of him as he seemed so devoted to Mother. While I was short, had cloudy grey eyes and pale skin. The only resemblance I had to my parents was their ebony hair even; however, my hair was short and just touched my shoulders. In their eyes I must have looked like a daughter that had failed miserably, nothing like they were when they were younger. But they were right, in a stranger's eyes I looked nothing like the heir to throne nor did I act like one.

"What we mean, Snow, is that we want you to take this opportunity and use it wisely and carefully. We can see the Queen inside, it just needs to surface and the only holding you back from unleashing it is that you don't want to. We understand that because we were the same, we also didn't want to lose our innocence and freedom. But this school will teach you the benefits when you do unleash your true capabilities." Mother said smiling warmly as if nothing had happened before.

I nodded in agreement and walked out of the study. Heading towards the palace gardens I thought carefully about what they had said. It was true I didn't want to grow and be expected to do this and do that. I strolled through the gardens towards the back to my favourite spot. As I had no siblings I had no to play with so Father and I made a big swing and attached it to a huge and grand oak tree. The swing was big enough for me to still be able to swing on it without collapsing. Mother didn't approve of me always spending time on children's toys but I always came to it when in trouble or in doubt. This time; however, I knew that I wouldn't see my beloved swing for a very long time.

I climbed onto my swing for the last time and swung on it while watching the sun slowly fade away and the sky turning into a party of brilliant colours. Hoping and determining to be the Queen my parents had always wanted me to be and to see their faces full of pride and happiness. That is all I ever want now.

**Sorry for not updating but I hope you liked this replacement chapter.**


	2. The Beginning of a Long Journey

Aurora:

Stepping out of the royal carriage I felt like a queen. With footmen rushing to open my door and carry my suitcases. It all felt like a dream I was really here, at the Royal princess Academy. I stepped out of the carriage and I was met with a mob of girls all wanting to take a glimpse of a new girl.

All the princesses in the land attended Royal Princess Academy at the age of fifteen. Some girls came to the school from places all around the world. Although, there were exceptions which were noble or very wealthy girls that had to pay a very large sum of money for the entry fee.

However, there was also a boy counterpart school called Royal Prince Academy. This school was were all the princes attended.

I couldn't wait to enter school and graduate hopefully as one of the top students.

After I got away from the huge crowd, I walked up the huge stairs of the school which looked more like a real glorious grey stoned castle with huge turrets flags with the school crest. Inside the castle was a magnificent hallway with timber flooring, a blood red carpet, mahogany walls with pictures of really famous and well-known principals and graduates. I really hoped one day I could end up on that wall.

"Excuse me, what is your name?" Asked an old woman with grey wispy hair and glasses balancing on the tip of her nose sitting on an old small desk.

"Umm, Aurora." I answered nervously.

"Aurora who?"

"Aurora Rose"

She scrolled down her long list of names until she came to 'R'.

"Ah, Princess Aurora from the kingdom of Enchantia."

"Yeah…"

"I still remember your lovely mother, Evangeline."

"You know her?"

"How could I not? She was one of the brightest princesses in her year and most certainly a polite and helpful one as well. Unlike all the others." She muttered the last bit but I still heard it.

"So… I guess I have a lot of pressure on my back considering how good she was."

"Yes, it will take a lot of hard work to get to the rank she was in. You might also want to know that there will be a lot of competition, taking into account some of the most famous princesses' daughters are coming this year."

"Wow, I am so lucky." I mumbled sarcastically.

"It's okay. You'll manage through it. Your mother acted just like you, so nervous and quiet."

After finishing the long and awkward conversation with the old lady whose name is apparently Margaret I headed over to the school hall. When I entered I was astounded once again. The hall had new polish timber which you could see your reflection in, a small stage at the front where the principal was standing, hundreds of chairs filled with pupils but what made this hall extraordinary was the enormous crystal and gold chandelier hanging from the roof.

"Please sit down students. My name is Headmistress Anderson. Welcome to Royal Princess Academy." Headmistress Anderson greeted us with a warm and welcoming smile.

"Attending Royal Princess Academy is a privilege which you should be grateful of. This means you study and work hard. Try out for extracurricular activities, join clubs and show team spirit. If you do this you could end up as a top student when you graduate. This means that your story will be known by everyone. There will be also other special events; such as, Prom at the end of the year."

"I don't want to overwhelm you too much on your first day so for now enjoy your first few days as it soon will get very serious. Good afternoon and farewell."


	3. Walking Alone

**Cinderella:**

_1st September_

_Dear Diary, _

_Today's the day. I can't believe I'm going to a school meant for princesses. I guess that means I am very blessed to have such a kind father that would pay such for my own benefit. I wonder if any of the princesses will let me into their friendship groups or will they shun me away just because I am a noble, a rank less. Well, I'll just I have to find out._

I walked up to my dorm room door. The door was beige and on it were the names 'Ella Legrand' and 'Aurora Reynolds' embellished in cursive gold writing. I knocked on the door just to be polite, what if someone was changing?

"Oh hello, you must be Ella Legrand. I'm your roommate Aurora Reynolds." Greeted Aurora happily.

"Yes, what a pleasure to meet you." I greeted her as formally as I could.

"You must not be a royal, I suspect."

"Yeah, I'm just an old noble."

"Close enough, I guess."

"How did you know I wasn't a royal? Is it what I'm wearing?"

"No, you certainly look divine."

"Then what was it?"

"You were being so very formal. Royals aren't that formal when around other royals unless the stakes are very high and first impression counts as everything."

"So… I was acting like a wannabe."

"No! It was just that you acted like how normal people do when they meet a royal. So poised, formal and stiff. That's all. But you'll soon learn not to act that way as you are technically a princess now." Now she was laughing but her laugh was a soft and pleasant laugh which didn't make me feel like a fool.

"Well, I have to graduate first, right?"

"Probably."

As soon as our conversation ended was welcomed with the most beautiful room I had ever seen. It looked like it had come right out of a painting. The room had to two queen sized beds with the most regal bed sheets, a mountain of pillows and cushions and curtains hanging on the bed railings. The two walls were bright pink while the other two were cream coloured. One of the cream walls had to large paintings. Each one had either Aurora or me in the, they were awe inspiring. We each had a dressing table with necessary items and accessories and a huge closet full of dresses, uniforms and casual clothes. However, what really made this room fell like a dream was the balcony and the view of the ocean that we could see from it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Asked Aurora suspecting my answer.

"It is the most beautiful scene I have ever seen." I almost felt like I was going to cry.

"Well, no time to dwell on the beautiful scenery. We have lunch in the cafeteria in ten minutes."

"Does everyone have a balcony?"

"I suppose so but I don't think they all have this magnificent view."

"I feel like I'm in a dream."

"Wait until you taste the food."

I walked over the closet and found the school uniforms. They were a blue plaid skirt that went just above the knees, long white socks, and a long white shirt with ruffles on the shoulders for winter but today I was wearing the exact same except a short sleeved one and a light pink vest with the school crest on the left. After getting dressed I headed over to the school cafeteria not knowing what to except. When I walked in, like everything else in the school it was extraordinary. It looked like a five star rating restaurant with waiters bring food to the students on mahogany dining table with expensive cutlery and centrepieces. The cafeteria also had a chandelier like all the other rooms. This was no normal school cafeteria.

At the back of the room sitting at a table was Aurora surrounded by other giggling girls. _Of course she would become friends with other girls_, I thought. I wondered if she would allow me to sit down with her but I thought twice and realised just because we were roommates that didn't mean were friends. So I went over to an empty table at the other end of the room.

"Is this seat taken?" I looked up and saw a girl with pale skin and ebony black hair wanted to sit with me. Obviously the seat wasn't taken, none of them were.

"Of course, as you can see none of them are taken." I replied.

"My name is Snow White, I'm pleased to meet you."

"My name is Ella." We shook hands and then we both sat down.

"I'm really am happy that I met one person at least today."

"Why?" I inquired.

"I don't have a roommate. Well no yet that is."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know this sounds weird to ask because these things happen naturally but will you be my friend."

"Of course, but are sure you want to be a friend with a nobleperson not a royal?" I asked praying the answer was yes.

"Yes! I wouldn't care if you had no title at all." Snow White replied with the utmost sincerity.

"What's up Ella?" Aurora said skipping over to us. Are princesses allowed to do that?

"Oh hi, I want you to meet Snow White."

"You both can call me Snow if you want."

"Okay. Look over there, our food is coming!" Aurora said nearly falling of her chair with delight.

"I'm so starving!" Wailed Snow.

The food was set on the table in front of us. We all had different salads and delicious sandwiches with a variety of fillings all suiting our heart's content. My mouth was watering so much as soon as my food was set down in front of me, I gobbled it all down. It was totally the best.

While eating I looked at the three of us and realised that things might turn out alright. After all I become friends with two awesome people that don't even seem approachable by someone like me.


	4. Truth or Dare

Snow White:

Today was the first day of classes and I awoke to the beautiful harmonious singing of birds. A group of small blue birds had come up to my windowsill and started to sing a beautiful melody. I started to sing with them it was so much fun that dread overwhelmed me when they stopped and flew away. I looked around my room and my gazed hovered on the unoccupied side of the room. Most girls were jealous that I had one whole room to myself but I really didn't see the fun in being by myself. Coming to the Royal Princess Academy I hoped to make some friends and feel like I had people that I could count on to be by my side in tough and difficult situations. I also wanted some good friends because back at home I was always lonely because I was an only child and the closest things that I had to friends were some animals in the Royal Gardens. `

I snapped out of my gaze and checked my timetable, I first had Kingdom Management class. I washed my face, brushed my hair so it looked sleek and shiny and I quickly pulled on my blue plaid skirt, white short sleeved shirt and my light pink vest.

The bell rang for breakfast so I hurriedly grabbed my books and pencil case while heaving a sigh of relief that I wouldn't be late. The cafeteria was packed with students buzzing with excitement. I looked around hoping to find Ella and Aurora my only friends, well I hope they were my friends. Realising that they probably weren't even my friends I grabbed a blueberry muffin and chugged down a glass of orange juice while heading to class. Just as I reached the classroom the bell rang for the start of the first period. While, everyone was rushing around frantically trying to find their classrooms, I just calmly stood at mine. Through the crowd I spotted Ella and Aurora and hoped they were heading or my class.

"Hi Snow, is this the Kingdom Management class?" Asked Ella.

"Yeah."

"I'm really nervous." Ella said while shaking nervously.

"Why?"

"I'm not a royal, I have no experience what-so-ever in ruling or looking after a kingdom."

"Don't worry Ella it's easy all you have to remember is to do what your people want and need." Soothed Aurora.

"Yeah and the teacher won't be as hard on you as you aren't a royal." I added.

Just as I finished my sentence the teacher came out of the classroom and suddenly all the students became silent. She didn't even have to say a word to declare her presence. She had her long strawberry blonde hair in a bun and she wore a sky-blue dress that went just above her knees. She looked nice enough.

"Everyone quietly come inside and take a seat." She commanded but with a sweet and comforting voice. Immediately relaxed thinking that maybe things will be alright.

The classroom was prim and clean but it was also very fancy like all the other rooms in the school. It had chocolate –coloured timber flooring, crisp beige walls, a whiteboard at the front of the room, a large desk which I assumed was the teacher's and smaller desks in rows. The desks were big enough to put our books on top but had small compartments on the side which allowed us to place our drink bottles and pencil cases to go in. The teacher's desk was mahogany and had dozens of different colour pens and pencils, paperclips, staplers, folders and a huge stack of papers.

"Good morning class, my name is Professor Blanchard. This class is Kingdom Management." She said as she wrote on the board.

"In this class you will learn how to be good rulers and leaders and you will learn how to efficiently run a kingdom. This is a very important skill so you should not take this class lightly even if you are a royal already. It takes hard work to do well in this class, talent will only take you so far." She lectured in voice that didn't bore me but rather made me lean forward.

"I am going to ask you all some questions so if you want to answer put your hand and if I pick you, say your name and then your answer. Please don't wave your hand around like you need to go toilet. Does anyone know the best way to lead and control a kingdom?" Professor Blanchard asked.

Immediately a few girls' hands shot up. Professor Blanchard pointed at one of the girls with long lustrous caramel-brown hair.

"My name is Chantelle Moreau, the best method to controlling a kingdom is through fear and strictness." Chantelle answered like a robot.

"Throughout history fear has indeed controlled people; however, it is not the most effective way as people tend to rebel when too much is used. Does anyone else have an answer?"

I quickly put my hand up so that I could make a good impression, like they say first impression is the last impression. She pointed at me and said full of hope that this was the correct answer, "My name is Snow White and the most effective way to control people is with kindness and respect. By doing things that will benefit them and make them happier will ultimately keep them in line."

"Yes, that is exactly the answer I was looking for Snow White, good job." Professor Blanchard beamed.

After a few questions the class ended and by then I knew I had impressed Professor Blanchard so I smiled brightly. Just as I was walking out of the class thinking how well the day was going someone hissed, "What a show-off I mean this was just the first class and she's already trying to be the teacher's pet."

I turned around to face Chantelle with a five or six girls floating around her and laughing at me.

"Back off Chantelle you aren't one to talk either." Another voice boomed and I turned around to find Aurora standing behind along with Ella.

"Oh really?" Chantelle sneered.

"It's not like you weren't trying to be the teacher's pet either. You're just angry that someone else is smarter than you." Cinderella added.

"Is that so peasant!" Chantelle snapped back so loud that everyone in the hallway turned around to watch the fight.

"Leave her alone Ella. Just because she is lower than us in status doesn't mean she is any less in heart!" I yelled back after finally gaining my confidence.

"You are really going to need to revise today's notes because by the looks it you haven't learnt anything about respect and kindness." Aurora added.

"I'm leaving, I can't be bothered wasting valuable time on these creeps." And with she sashayed out of the hallway with her minions following behind.

"Wow, what a coward." Scoffed Aurora.

"You two didn't have to stand up for me and I'm really sorry for getting you two involved," I apologised.

"We wanted to help you because that's what friends do," Ella chirped happily.

"But she started to say rude things about you," I insisted.

"You stood up for me as well."

"That's what friends do."

"Have we finished our apologies because I just had a great idea. We can have a sleepover," Aurora gushed happily.

"But we live in the same building and what about curfew?" Ella questioned looking a bit nervous.

"We can have the sleepover in Ella and my room and if someone catches us we can say Snow got scared and came over to our room."

"Okay, what time should I come?"

"Just after curfew around half past nine."

"I don't think this is a good idea." Ella insisted.

"Don't it will be fun and nothing bad will happen, I promise." Aurora begged.

At exactly half past nine I slowly and silently slipped into the hallway. I tried to remember the directions Aurora had given me to find their room. I was really hard since everything looked different. Finally I arrived at a room that had the names Ella and Aurora on it. As quietly as I could I did our secret knock. All of the measures we were going to made me feel like I was in a spy movie.

"Finally you're here, we thought a teacher caught you." Ella sighed as she opened the door. As soon as the door was open I rushed in.

"Didn't we agree that we you would come here at half past nine." Aurora asked me and suddenly remembered.

"Opps… Sorry I thought I was supposed to leave my room at half past nine." I apologised realising my mistake.

"It's okay. Guess what I heard today when I was passing the staffroom." Aurora whispered.

"What?" Both Ella and I said a bit too loudly.

"Shh! Someone could hear us. The teachers were talking about us having no classes tomorrow."

"What!" I said again a bit too loudly.

"Shh!" Both of them whispered angrily.

"Sorry but we just started school they can't give us a day off."

"Well, if everyone was given the option to stay at school and go to boring classes or go on a picnic with the Royal Princes Academy, everyone would choose option number two."

"Are you for real? We're going on a picnic with them!" Ella asked getting all excited and bubbly.

"Yeah and I know it is so exciting!"

"Has today's disappointing gossiped finished?" I sighed.

"We all know how you really are feeling under your fake frown." Aurora said with a smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really?"

"There's no point trying to get it out of here since we already know it's true." Ella said also with a smirk.

"Yeah, do you guys want to play Truth or Dare?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, please." I pleaded.

"Don't think we're finished with you, Snow." As soon as Ella finished her sentence I heaved a long sigh of relief which made everyone laugh.

Suddenly two loud knocks rang in the air. We all froze in a position, too afraid to move. I thought of hiding under a bed but fear overwhelmed me so much that not one muscle could move. Knowing that whether we opened the door or not we would get in deep trouble, so I decided to open the door myself. I prepared myself to find some angry teacher that is going to give us all a detention but instead standing outside was Chantelle and her gang.

"What is all that racket? You know that some of us need our beauty sleep and can't afford to ruin their reputation of looking good." Chantelle demanded.

Suddenly Aurora appeared and put a hand on Chantelle's mouth and dragged her inside. This made me laugh so I had to cover my mouth so we wouldn't get caught but a stifled snort came out instead. All Chantelle's minions looked at me disgusted and walked in after Chantelle. After Ella closed the door Chantelle ripped off Aurora's hand.

"What was that for?" She demanded.

"Unless you wanted to get caught, be my guest and go outside and yell." Aurora simply replied.

"We won't get in trouble since we didn't stay up after curfew and we only came here to tell you to be quiet. Besides we could go and tell a teacher about what you have been doing."

"You wouldn't."

"Yes I would."

"Well would tell on us if I told you something?" Aurora asked hopefully.

"What would this something be?" Chantelle asked looking a bit bored.

"This something would be about what we're doing tomorrow instead of classes."

"Fine but it better be good." Chantelle threatened.

"Tomorrow we're going on a picnic with the Royal Princes Academy."

"What?" Some of Chantelle's minions said sounding really surprised.

"Why are we wasting valuable class time on a boring picnic?" I inquired.

"It's to help us to introduce ourselves to the girls and boys and to have a bit of fun." Aurora explained.

"Enough said, I need my beauty sleep if I want to look the best." Chantelle said.

"Do guys want to play Truth or Dare with us?" Ella asked and as soon as she asked all the girls sat back down.

"Okay I'll go first. Chantelle truth or dare?" Ella questioned.

"Truth." Chantelle simply replied.

"So you're playing it safe then. What is your most embarrassing moment?" Ella asked smirking.

"I have never done anything embarrassing or ridiculous."

"Everyone does at least one thing embarrassing in their lifetime." Aurora said.

"Well that time hasn't come yet." She said looking a bit nervous.

All of the girls stared her down until she gave in. "Oh fine. I never wanted to remember or repeat this story you guys are so cruel. When I was six years old a handsome prince came to live in my castle, he was around sixteen. We used to play with each other and I became so attached that I soon had a crush on him. One day we had a ball, at the ball was a princess that the prince really liked so he asked the girl to a dance. I got so jealous that I went onto the dance floor and yelled,_ you can't dance with my prince, and I love him! _I tried to block them both from reaching each other and I wrapped myself around the prince. My parents had to pull me away from him and take me to my room. They had to explain to me that making a scene about loving a prince that was ten years older than me is very un-princessly. The next day the prince had gone and I was so grateful as I would not have been able to face him. I think he did me a favour. My parents still tease me about what I did." Chantelle confessed.

Some of the girls snickered, the story was pretty funny.

"Snow, truth or dare?" Chantelle asked.

"Um, dare." I said trying to take a risk.

"Oh…" All the girls gasped.

"You have to do the chicken dance in the hallway." Chantelle said with a sly smile on her face.

"Okay."

I slowly walked outside into the hallway and started to do the chicken dance. All the girls peered through the semi-open door. Everyone covered their mouths to stop laughing which made weird noises. After I successfully completed my dare I dared someone else.

In the morning Chantelle felt like my one true enemy but now she felt like one of my best friends as we together dared and humiliated girls. It was so much fun.

"It's midnight." Ella announced to everyone.

"Omg! My beauty sleep. I'm going to look so terrible." Chantelle cried.

"You have at least seven hours to sleep." Aurora said soothingly.

"No, four hours." She said panicking.

"What?" I asked surprised.

"I need three hours to get ready for the picnic tomorrow. As they first impression is the last impression. Bye."She said as she walked quietly out of the room.

All of her friends followed her out until only me, Ella and Aurora were left.

"Thanks guys for letting me stay here." I said.

"It's okay. It was so much fun, right?" Said Ella.

"Especially when Chantelle and her gang came. She isn't too bad is she? I guess she was only mean because she wanted to be the teacher's pet."

"Yeah." We all agreed.

"Good night, bye." I said as I silently walked out the door.

I waked along the hallway and I wondered whether any of the girls got caught and what the picnic would be like.


	5. Royal Princes Academy

**Aurora:**

"Aurora, Aurora, wake up!" Ella yelled in to my ears.

"Five more minutes please," I begged. I was so tired because I couldn't go sleep and I only dozed off around five o'clock.

"You can't even have five seconds, it's fifteen minutes past seven. You only have fifteen minutes till breakfast. I didn't wake you up earlier because I thought you were really tired from sleeping at midnight because of the sleepover."

"Actually I couldn't go to sleep until five."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I replied while yawning.

"Do we wear our uniform, since we have a picnic today?" I asked.

"Yes, we aren't meant to know about the picnic so we have to behave like it's a normal day. I'll leave you to get dressed, I'm going to the cafeteria." Ella said as she walked out of the room.

I quickly got out of bed and took a quick shower. I ran around the room trying to find all of my uniform and accessories. I quickly tied my hair into a simple ponytail and hurried out of my room. I looked at the clock in the hallway and it read twenty seven minutes past nine. I was relieved that I wasn't late so I calmly walked to the cafeteria.

I soon found Ella and Snow on table so I went over to join them. Today's breakfast looked like a normal bacon, eggs and sausages.

"Yum, breakfast looks tasty," I said while licking my lips.

"Yeah, it's delicious. Unfortunately they have run out," Snow said with mock pity.

"Too bad I've nearly finished, I could have shared mine with you." Ella said with her voice muffled and inaudible because she had quickly stuffed her mouth full of the food.

We all laughed at the sight of Ella stuffing her mouth full.

"That is definitely not how a princess is meant to eat," I said poshly.

"Oh really? Will you please show me how Your Majesty." Ella said.

I swiftly took seat across from the girls and plunged into the food. The bacon was mouth-watering and crispy, the eggs were light and fluffy and the sausages were just plain delicious. Just as I was going to chug down a glass of rich freshly squeezed orange juice, a tiny bell rang. All the girls in the cafeteria went silent. At the front of the cafeteria Headmistress Anderson stood holding the bell.

"Girls, I have a surprise for you today. I will make this announcement short. Instead of attending regular classes as normal, today you will go on a picnic with our counterpart school the Royal Princes Academy. The day will be for you to introduce your selves to new people and make new friends. You will also be able to meet the boys from the school. The day will consist of fun games and activities so that you can interact with other students; however, you are allowed to just sit around talking for the whole day but I don't encourage that you should do this. Take this opportunity to meet new people. For the picnic you are allowed to wear casual clothes but they must be appropriate. No one is allowed to wear anything too short or inappropriate. If you do you will either be asked to change outfits or stay back with a teacher do schoolwork for the whole day. I don't like punishing students but I don't want to show the wrong impression of our pupils. You must also act like ladies in the school. Now everyone go and get changed and meet at the front of the school for the bus."

As soon as she finished everyone got up and started to run to their rooms like their lives depended on it.

"NO RUNNINGG!" Headmistress Anderson shouted to anyone that would listen.

I quickly walked to my room and started going through my clothes for something pretty but also suitable. The day was pretty warm and sunny so I decided to wear pretty floral dress that went up just above my knees and brushed my blonde hair into waves. When I walked out of my room and arrived at the front of the school I realised that nearly everyone was wearing dresses. After much pushing and shoving I found Ella and Snow. Ella was wearing pale pink dress that went just above her knees and had blonde hair out in loose curls. When I looked at Snow I couldn't help not staring, she was wearing a plain white top and black silk trousers, her hair was slightly messy with it sticking out of places like she just got out of bed.

"What's the matter Aurora? Is it the trousers?" Snow asked looking slightly offended.

"Oh nothing, it's just I have never seen you wear trousers and I'm pretty surprised." I explained.

"I didn't know that royals wore pants." Ella stated looking really confused.

"They usually don't. My mother never let me wear pants, this is my first time."

"Then how did you get your hands on a pair?" I asked intrigued.

"My maids sewed this for me for my birthday; however, they didn't show or tell my mother. They said that I could maybe wear at school so I decided to wear today."

We all turned our attention from Snow's black trousers to Chantelle. Like Chantelle said last night, she looked like she had prepared for hours. She was wearing a tight light blue top, a white mini skirt, gold chain necklace with the letter c and she had her light brown hair flowing down her shoulders in cascades. She was showing off and flaunting her outfit to everyone.

"What's your name dear?" Headmistress Anderson asked suddenly.

"Mine," Chantelle stuttered.

"Yes,"

"Umm Chantelle,"

"Chantelle, you don't think you could get away with wearing that did you?"

"…no,"

"Good, so go and change your outfit to something much more appropriate. One of the teachers will come with you to making choosing an outfit much easier."

Chantelle walked off irritated with a teacher following close behind.

"Now Snow White I think it would be best if you wore something more ladylike." Headmistress Anderson said turning her attention to us.

As soon as she Headmistress finished speaking to Snow, Ella and I followed.

"How does she know your name?" Ella asked.

"She's already made a good impression on the teachers. They must have told Headmistress." I explained.

"No it isn't that. My mother and Headmistress Anderson were good friends when they went to school. So I've met her a few times before."

As soon as we arrived at Snow's room both Ella and I stood there for few seconds staring at Snow's room. It was huge, half of the room was unoccupied and the room had the best view of the beautiful beach and its glistening waters. Snow went over to her wardrobe and opened and revealed hundreds of beautiful ball gowns, party dresses, day dresses and loads of accessories.

"Your wardrobe looks like a shop." Ella said looking astonished.

"I'm not bragging but this is just a little portion of what I have back at home. Most of this stuff is new. My mother bought and had all this made just for school. She said that I was going to need a lot because all the events that happen at the school."

"Well choosing the perfect outfit is going to be harder than I thought." I stated.

It felt like hours before we all agreed on the perfect look. Snow wore loose white blouse with flower borders, a skirt with beautiful pink and purple flowers that went above her knees at the front and went just above ankles at the back and sliver sandals. Her short ebony hair was brushed into pretty waves and had a pink bow tied at the top of her hair. We applied a bit of red lipstick and blush to give her face more colour. At the end she looked like a beautiful princess.

"Thank you, I look a little like my mother now."

"Your mother must be very beautiful," Ella said.

"Yes, she is. Normally we look nothing alike. People are get so amazed when they hear that I'm her daughter."

We all headed back to the front of the school waiting to get on the school carriages. Suddenly Headmistress arrived with Chantelle dragging her feet behind her. She looked as if her excitement to go to the Royal Princes Academy was completely extinguished and she would do anything to keep herself from having to go.

"Much more ladylike Ms White," Headmistress Anderson said as she walked by.

"She approves of you wearing that when I have to wear this," Chantelle hissed while pointing at her baggy light blue dress.

"It has no shape or flare. I'd rather die than wear this, none of the teachers would let me wear anything else because apparently all my clothes are inappropriate for today. I don't even know why I packed this."

Even though Chantelle's new outfit was lacking her flare and style, she had made up for it with makeup, accessories, jewellery and the way her hair was elaborately braided into a bun. So in the end she did still look great.

"Attention girls!"

We all looked around to find our Princess Etiquette teacher Professor Blight at the front near the school carriages.

"Since today you have no classes, I have decided to give you a little pre-test." As soon as she said this everyone moaned.

"At the moment this test will not count in your final grade and will not go in your school report but if you keep moaning I might change my mind. Being a princess isn't all fun and games. What you are doing today is a privilege but you must also work. In the carriages in which you will be travelling in, there will cups of tea, biscuits and other little snacks. Your task is to make you own tea and drink it without spilling it, this task requires poise and concentration. I will know if you somehow cheated so don't even think about making someone else do it. Each cup will have your name in it. There will be three people travelling in each carriage. Good luck and have a great day."

As soon as she said this people hurried into carriages to find out which one was there's.

"I hope we're together," Snow prayed.

Together we walked over to the last carriage. There was no one in it so we checked the cups and found out surprisingly that all three of us were in the same carriage.

"Wow that was easy. Finding our carriage I mean, I bet that the test will be super hard."

The carriages were so beautiful and elegant like our school. The huge wheels were painted like real gold, the carriage was cream white and the horses were a beautiful jet black. The inside consisted of velvet plush chairs, a small table connected to the side and beautiful rose pink curtains. The small table had all our cups with our names, had a tray with tea, milk and sugar and also held biscuits, cupcakes and chocolates.

"I'm not that very fond of tea so I think I will gulp it all down in one go," said Snow.

"I don't think that's the point of the test and the tea could spill on you," I advised.

"I really hope the driver will take us on smooth roads." Said Ella looking very anxious.

The carriage slowly started to pull away from the school, we each started to make our tea. By pouring the hot water into our cups, slowly sliding a tea bag in, taking the tea bag, adding milk if we wished to and adding however many sugar cubes we wanted. So far no one had split anything.

"I now know how Professor Blight knows if we cheated. It's the driver, he keeps turning around and watching us." I whispered.

"Well we have nothing to worry about because so far no one has made a mistake and no one has cheated." Snow declared confidently.

We all together slowly took the handles of the cups and lifted them gently to our mouths took a sip. I looked over at Ella who did it so perfectly she looked like she was a princess who had done this for year, she no longer had the anxious look in her eyes when we first go into the carriage. While Snow was holding and drinking from the cup perfectly her face was scrunched up in disgust. Although, on the other hand I was finding it quite difficult to drink the tea while we were going on a very bumping road.

Finally we all finished our tea without anyone spilling it; however, Ella finished way before Snow and I.

"Wow Ella, you said that you were nervous to do this test but you were by far the best." I said.

"Also considering you aren't a royal. You're brilliant, this proves that you will be great at this school." Snow congratulated.

"This was only a pre-test, though." Ella said modestly.

"Which shows what level you're at." Snow explained.

"Look outside," I gasped.

We had finally reached the Royal Princes Academy. It nearly identical to The Royal Princesses Academy; however, there wasn't a beautiful beach. The school was instead in a beautiful meadow with plenty of trees, flowers and plants. There were grounds for the boys to play sport and magnificent gardens full of astounding sculptures made from stone and trees. It was all breath-taking. We all carefully stepped out of our carriages and stood at the front of the school.

"Welcome ladies from the Royal Princesses Academy, we are honoured to have you present at our school. I am the headmaster of the Royal Princes Academy. Today there will be fun activities for you all to enjoy with our students. At lunch time there will be a huge picnic. You are also permitted to venture around the school but if you go in areas that are out of bounds you will face consequences. Overall have a great day!"

We all headed to the back of the school with our teachers, it was a huge meadow covered with millions of brightly coloured flowers. There were plenty of activities to do like croquet, horse riding and more.

"Want do you to want to do?" I asked.

"How about we walk around the school a bit and then decide on an activity to do?" Ella suggested.

We all agreed on that. We walked around the meadow, ventured through the beautiful gardens and looked at a few classrooms and other buildings in the school. Along the way we chatted about how excited we were about school, how lives are outside of school and before it and our hobbies and interests.

"Are you girls lost?" Asked a group of boys.

"No we're only exploring the school." Ella answered.

"Okay then we'll leave you to your adventures." One of the boys said with golden blonde hair.

"But we would like to know if there is anything interesting to do?" I asked nervously.

"Well horse riding isn't one of the activities organised for today but I think we'll be able to do it." The blondie replied.

"My name is William Charming, this Philip," he said pointing to a boy with strawberry blonde hair. "And this is Frederik," he said while pointing to a boy with ebony black hair just like Snow's.

We headed over to a meadow with white fencing around it, next to it was a stable with horses.

"Do any of you girls know how to ride a horse?" Philip asked.

We all looked slowly at each and shook our heads. None of us knew.

"We'll just have to teach you then." Philip said mock sighing.

This made me giggle and then he turned around catching me red-handed. I looked away trying not to blush from embarrassment.

The boys lead us into the stables and pointed at the horses that were easy to ride on. I chose a gorgeous white stallion. While Philip helped me onto the white stallion called Speedy, I glanced over to see Frederik and William arguing.

"What are those two quarrelling about?" I asked Philip.

"The usual probably a girl." He said smirking which caused smile lines to appear around his dark midnight-blue eyes.

"I'm just joking, there fighting to get Jet. He's the school's best horse." He said while pointing at a beautiful black horse with a shiny well-groomed mane.

I looked over to Ella whom was waiting with chestnut-brown horse.

"Is one of them going to help Ella?" I asked.

"Hey! You two one of you help the lady of there and one of you help the lady over there. You two aren't going to be riding right now so need to fight." Philip instructed confidently.

Frederik assisted Snow onto Jet while Ella got onto Caramel with the help of William.

"I regret not wearing my trousers, wearing a skirt while riding a horse is very uncomfortable." Snow whined.

We all rode two rounds of the paddock and got off feeling very uncomfortable and hurt. After the horse riding we headed over to the meadow where the picnic for lunch was being held. We each grabbed a few sandwiches, sweets and drinks from the picnic table and sat under a large oak tree.

"These sandwiches our delicious," William mumbled with his mouth full.

"Shut your mouth Charming otherwise you won't be able to live up to your name," Philip said.

I realised throughout out conversions the only two that had not participated that much or not at all were Snow and Frederik. I sort of thought this was cute because the both shared a lot of traits and were both shy as well.

"Do you girls want to come to our jousting practice, it's not as good as a tournament but it's fun to watch anyway?" William asked.

We all looked at each other and nodded.

"Are you the hunky William Charming?" Someone said from behind us and I immediately recognised the voice.

We all turned around to find Chantelle batting her eyelashes at William smiling her flirtiest smile.

"Yes," William said with a flip of his hair.

"My name is Chantelle Moreau, would you be able to give me a tour of the school?"

"Sure. I'll see you guys at practice." He said with a small wave.

"There goes Charming still holding onto his reputation of impressing and getting the attention of all the girls. Do you know that Chantelle girl?" Philip asked me.

"Yeah,"

After more walking around and doing other fun activities it was time for the boys jousting practice session. The boys headed to their rooms to get changed and we headed to the toilets.

"Which door should we take?" Snow asked.

"Thank goodness, for a while I thought you lost your voice." I said while laughing with Ella.

Snow pretended to ignore us, "I think they said turn to the right."

"I think we should go to the left," I said.

"But there's a sign that says NO STUDENTS PERMITTED!" Ella advised looking a bit anxious.

"Come on, we can have an adventure and know will we went this way."

The two girls gave in and I did a little victory dance before we headed through the door. Instead of finding toilets or classrooms we found a large metal cell with a slab of raw meat on the floor and blood sprayed everywhere.

"What is that?" Snow said shakenly while pointing at a monster.

"I think it's a hideous beast." Ella said and soon as she said this the beast roared. We all jumped together and hugged each other tightly.

"I think we should go the other way." I suggested and Ella and Snow both nodded.

After we finished our business in the toilets we headed to the paddock. The boys were each brilliant on their horses and jousted each other perfectly. None of us could say who was better. Philip rode Speedy, Frederik rode Caramel and William rode Jet.

"Where did Chantelle go?" We asked William.

"I took her into the gardens which is like a maze and quickly ran for it. She is completely self-absorbed."

"Does that remind you of anyone?" Frederik said and gave Philip a hi-five.

We didn't tell the boys what we found in case they told the teachers and got us in trouble so we left the Royal Princes Academy quietly wondering what that thing was and what it was doing in the school.


	6. The Rules of the Ballroom

**Cinderella:**

_Friday 11__th__ September_

_Dear Diary,_

_School so far isn't too bad or too difficult. I'm doing well in Princess Etiquette and Kingdom Management. My favourite class at the moment is Home Economics even though it is an extracurricular class which is basically just cooking. Since most of the girls hadn't even entered a kitchen, I had a great advantage so far I am at the top of class. Everyone is required to at least one extracurricular class. Aurora does fashion class and Snow speech and debate class. However, the class that I wish never existed is Ballroom Dancing. It's like I have two left feet. I keep on: stepping on people, going in the wrong direction, bumping into people and forgetting dance steps. The Ballroom Dancing teacher never liked me in the first place because I am not a royal but in the end I couldn't impress or redeem myself. I am realising that if I don't practice and master dancing I will most likely fail the subject._

Aurora and I walked over to the cafeteria and ate our breakfast while chatting about our classes and teachers. We waited and waited but there was no signing of Snow.

"Is she sick or something?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe we should go and check on her."

So we decided to go to her room and see what the problem was for her lateness. We had only known Snow for barely two weeks but we both knew that she would never be late for anything. We arrived at her room and realised there was another name on the golden plaque. Underneath Snow's name embellished into the plaque in cursive hand writing was 'Belle Lacey'. We knocked on the door and Snow opened wearing a huge smile which made us smile too for no apparent reason.

"Have you already had breakfast?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, Belle and I had breakfast in our room,"

"We thought that for once you might be late," I said.

"I would never do that,"

"Who is Belle Lacey?" We asked.

"Come inside and I'll show you," Snow replied.

We walked inside to find a girl sitting on a bed that was on the unoccupied side which was now full of bags and suitcases.

"Sorry the place is a mess, my name is Belle." Belle said a little quietly.

"My name is Ella and this Aurora,"

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said while standing up and bowing her head.

"What are you doing?" Aurora asked looking confused.

"I think she's bowing to us," I suggested.

"You two are royals, aren't you?" She asked looking a little embarrassed.

"Well Aurora is I'm just a noble."

"So I'm supposed to bow to you,"

"Okay, let's forget about this royal etiquette. Belle you don't need to bow, in this school everyone is equal. No one is more or less." Snow explained.

"Wait, are you not a royal?" I asked curiously.

"No, I'm just a mere peasant."

"Then how did you get into the school? Did you have to pay a large sum? Opps, sorry I should never asked something so personal. It's none of my business." Aurora stuttered.

"It's okay, my papa doesn't have enough money to pay for the school, and I got in with a scholarship. I sat a test and got in."

"Wow, you must be very smart," I said in awe.

"No, all I do is read lots of books."

"I think we should leave you to get dressed and ready for History class." Snow said as she grabbed her history books and pencil case.

We all headed out of the room and waited for Belle to show her where the class was. In history class we learnt about famous queens and princesses that had pivotal roles in history. Belle knew many of them and constantly put her hand up and said the correct answers. It made all the other students look like they knew nothing. I glanced over at Chantelle who looked more irritated by the sec. Every time she put her hand up she would either say the incorrect answer or wasn't quick enough so Belle got the chance. By the end of the class no one bothered to contribute answers or ideas even the two brightest girls in class who were Snow and Chantelle.

"So is this the peasant girl?" Chantelle sniggered after History finished in the hallway. Chantelle's minions burst into laughter and pointed at Belle mockingly.

Belle tried to walk away but Chantelle's minions blocked all the paths and left her in the middle of a circle with Chantelle.

"This doesn't look good," I said.

"We have to help like you two did with me," Snow said.

Chantelle walked up to Belle and shouted, "You made us all look like fools and nobodies and what are you?"

"A peasant," Belle said quietly.

"What did you say?"

"A peasant," Belle said a little louder.

Chantelle slowly walked up so close to Belle so that she was only an inch away and whispered even though everyone heard, "What are you playing at?" At that moment she looked like she was getting ready to hit or push Belle.

Snow, Aurora and I pushed past the other girls and into the centre of the action.

"What are you doing Chantelle?" Snow asked.

"Teaching this peasant what happens if you make us look bad."

"It's not her fault that she's smart. It just tells us that we need to work harder." I said.

"Being a bully isn't what princesses do," Aurora said right into Chantelle's face.

As soon as Aurora finished saying what she needed to say we paraded right out of the circle with Belle to Ballroom dancing.

"Thank you for saving me. For a moment I thought she was going to kill me." Belle sighed.

"It's okay that's what friends do," Snow explained.

The more steps we took towards the dance studio the more I felt sick. I am horrible at dancing and the teacher despises me.

"Everyone get into pairs," Professor Ballard ordered.

Snow and Belle became partners so Aurora and I became a pair.

"I want to see everyone show me the dance we did last lesson. This will show me if you have practised and improved or if you just couldn't be bothered." She said as her assistant started to play the beautiful classical music on the piano.

"One-two-three, one-two-three, turn"

"Now dip your partner,"

As Professor Ballard ordered out steps criticised people for doing wrong steps, turning in the wrong direction or stepping on feet. I tried to keep my mind on doing the dance for once without going in the wrong direction, tripping or stepping on Aurora's feet and I was doing pretty well. Aurora looked at me with a sigh of relief that her feet weren't stepped on. I let out little laugh of triumph and that is where I went wrong. Professor came right up to me and watched closely waiting for me to make a mistake and then it happened I stepped on Aurora and fell back onto the ground when she dipped me.

"Ella, come to talk to me after class," she said sternly.

"Perfect girls, most of you have exceeded my expectations and some really need to get their head in the game," she said while looking escipicially at me. "Tomorrow we are going to the Royal princes Academy to really practise."

"This will give you a glimpse of how it really feels like at balls and dances. However, I cannot take all of you unless you are up to standard those that I have talked to must stay back. I don't want any of you to make fools of ourselves so if you aren't ready you won't be able to go. This isn't some small deal, this shows me and the school not only your dancing ability but your ability to learn, memorise, understand and practise into perfection. Class is dismissed."

Everyone left so did Snow and Aurora even Belle managed to impress the teacher on the first day. I looked around and realised when she said, "some students" she meant only me. Miss Legrand I am very disappointed in you, you have not only failed to learn a simple dance but also to show that you care the slightest."

I couldn't say anything because she was true. I did not care at all about dancing because I was horrible at it and I always will be and the only practising I ever did was visualising the steps while walking to the dance studio.

"But Professor I was doing well before you watched me. Even ask Aurora, I did not once step on her or trip over."

"Tomorrow everyone is going to watch intently and if you can't dance if I look at you how can you tomorrow?"

"However, I have preposition for you. If you practice as much as you can and perfect the dance and come to my office and show me then maybe you might be able to come. The deadline is thirty minutes past six any minute past and you will have no chance at all"

"Oh thank you Professor. Thank you!" I squealed and I quickly hurried off before she could change her mind.

I quickly walked over to the cafeteria for lunch and found the table everyone was sitting at.

"Guess what?" I squealed.

"What?" Aurora, Snow and Belle asked in unison.

"Professor gave me chance to redeem myself."

"That's great," Aurora said.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I you will have to practise a lot of course," Snow said.

"I know that but first I am going to have to fuel myself up," I said while sitting down and tucking into the delicious roast beef and smoked vegetables.

After lunch we all walked over to Aurora and my room to practice. Everyone took turns dancing with me except Belle who was new to this dancing. The two that weren't dancing judged me and criticised every move I made. Improving me step by step until we all decided I was nearly perfect and the time was close to the deadline.

I quickly knocked on her door feeling so nervous that I would soon burst but anxious to go tomorrow.

"Come in," Professor's voice called from inside.

"Now let's get straight to the point because I have no time for dilly-dallying."

She played the music on her piano and I started to dance with Aurora imagining being in my room with all friends and dancing just as I had. Perfectly with such grace and beauty like a swan. Suddenly, the music stopped and I knew that it was all over.

"I have no time for this. So far you were perfect you can go tomorrow."

"Thank you, thank you, and thank you." I cried and I jumped up and hugged her.

She slowly and gently pulled herself away and said with a smile for once, "However, this practising must always continue."

"Yes, I will"

"Have fun!" Belle said enthusiastically.

"Why? You sound like you aren't coming," Snow said.

"I'm not."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"I have studying and catching up to do tonight and I also don't fully know the dance so good luck." Belle said while walking back to her room and waving back at us.

"I'm scared what if I make a fool of myself?" I wondered.

"Just do what you did when we were practising," Snow advised.

We soon arrived to the Royal Princes Academy in the school carriages. We were shown where the dance studio was and led inside. It looked similar to the one at our school except for two things which was that it was less grand and there were boys.

"So everyone this regular dance practise will happen every fortnight. One fortnight it will be at the princesses' school and the other will be here. Now everyone choose a partner. Choose wisely because this person will be your permanent partner." Professor Dance said.

We all swayed this way and that pretending to know who was going to be our partner but having no clue of who to go to. Philip suddenly appeared amidst the crowd and asked Aurora whether she would like to be her partner and Aurora nodded and walked off to the side where all the pairs were. Snow and I looked at each other both thinking that we were definitely going to be partnerless. Soon more and more people were partnered up and still Snow and I walked aimlessly until we were the only ones left with William.

"Charming choose a girl as your partner quickly," the Royal Princes' Academy dance professor said impatiently.

William looked at us both with an anxious look. I knew who he was going to pick, it was Snow. Who wouldn't? She was pretty, smart and kind. And then I remembered how he had fought over her with Frederik and I knew I stood no chance.

All of a sudden the doors of the studio opened with loud bang. Whoever had opened must have a lot of strength I thought. It was Frederik with his jet black hair tousled, his uniform crumpled and his school tie loosened.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor." He said.

"I had some-"

"I know you had something more important to do," the professor cut in with an irritated voice.

I looked over at Snow and relief began to flood her face.

"Would you like to be my partner?" Snow asked Frederik.

"Sure but what are we doing?"

"I'll explain to you later."

"So it looks like where partners then," William said.

"Everyone get into your starting positions," Professor Dance instructed.

The music started and William started to move but I stood in the same place as rigid as a sculpture.

"Do you not remember the steps?" William asked kindly.

"Yes I remember them quite clearly." I said then stormed out of the studio and down the stairs hoping to find a bathroom. Suddenly I found myself in the cells were the beast was except this time there was no beast and instead the metal bars were stretched open enough for it to run out of. Knowing where I was quickly walked through some corridors to the toilets I used a week ago. I walked into one and put the lid and sat on it. I let out all the tears I had held all of the journey down to the toilets. I can't believe what happened. I abruptly heard the opening of the bathroom's door.

"Ella are you in here?" William asked calmly.

I said nothing.

"Please Ella we need to get back,"

I slowly got out of the toilet cubicle.

"What are you doing in the girls' toilets?" I asked while furiously trying to wipe away the tears.

"I couldn't let you flood the toilets," he said.

I let out a small giggle when he said that.

"What's the matter?" He asked gently and slowly walking up to me.

"I know that you wanted to be with Snow," I said.

"No, don't tell her but I wanted to be you."

"But you were fighting over her with Frederik,"

"No I really wanted to ride Jet but Frederik always rides him,"

"But the way you look at Snow and always flirt with her,"

"I only tease her because she is so easily flattered."

"So do you want to go back and rule the dance floor together?" He asked while holding out his hand.

"I'm a terrible dancer,"

"Never mind, it's all about having fun!" He gently grabbed my hand and we walked all the way to the studio hand-in-hand.

I danced exactly as I had in my room and ruled the dance floor because I didn't care what other people thought and tried to just have fun with William.


	7. Gone like the Wind

**Snow White:**

"Argh! Writing speeches is so hard!" I said while nibbling the end of my quill. I felt like a nervous wreck, tomorrow was the speeches for student council elections and I had no idea what to write.

"What's the time?" Belle muttered while rubbing her eyes of sleep.

"Sorry for waking you up, I just have no idea what to write for the speech tomorrow and I can't make a fool of myself in front of everyone."

Belle walked over to my desk and leaned on it while still trying to adjust her eyes, "So you have to tell the why you would be an excellent choice and what you would give to the council and how they would benefit?"

"Yes, can you please give me some ideas?" I pleaded.

"Just speak from the heart and it doesn't matter if they don't agree with you or you make a fool of yourself as it means you weren't meant for the position. But do 't give up hope." She said while giving me a wink.

"Is it okay if I go to bed? My Laws and Principles teacher told me to come before class to quickly review some important things I had missed."

"Of course, sorry to wake up by the way."

"Don't be just don't stress about the speech isn't the end of your life."

While Belle went to sleep I thought how I wish I could but that was no option so I got into forcing my brain into thinking of something smart and clever to say but came up with nothing. So I decided to take Belle's advice and wrote what I thought from my heart.

"Snow wake up, wake up. You're going to be late for class."

I tried to slowly open my eyes and squinted against the bright morning sunshine and made out a vague figure.

"What time is it?" I asked while getting up and rubbing my eyes of sleep.

"There are ten minutes until the beginning of the first class." Belle said.

"What breakfast is finished?" I said while quickly hoping out of bed and heading into the bathroom.

"Yes but I brought you some breakfast," Belle said while holding out a tray of breakfast. It was freshly squeezed orange juice, mouth-watering bacon and eggs and a perfect blue berry muffin.

"You're an angel you know Belle, how did you bring it here? You know you're not allowed to take food out of the cafeteria."

"You looked so tired that I knew it would be wrong to wake you up. So I pretended to have a big appetite and got seconds"

"I better quickly get changed and thanks. Wait, aren't you meant to be Law teacher or something?"

"Yeah, but I've got an excuse."

"What?"

"Helping a friend isn't an excuse then what's the point of teaching us to always aid anyone in need."

"Well thanks for everything,"

I changed into the school uniform which was my blue plaid skirt, crisp white short sleeved shirt and pale pink vest and hurriedly gobbled down the breakfast. By the time I was ready to go to class Belle had already left. I collected my books and headed out of dorm room and spotted Ella and Aurora walking amidst the crowd of students walking to their different classes.

"Where were you this morning at breakfast?" Ella asked.

"I was really tired from writing my speech last night so I slept in so Belle brought me breakfast." I said.

"Lucky! Sleep in and breakfast in bed," Aurora mock-whined.

"Before I forget did Belle tell you anything important?" Ella inquired.

"No," I said curious to find out what Belle was possibly hiding from me.

"Belle most likely wasn't in the Cafeteria when Head Mistress announced that we aren't allowed in the outside school after six o'clock. This means we can't exit the school buildings and take a midnight stroll in the gardens." Aurora said suddenly serious.

"Why?" I asked.

"Apparently something dangerous and life threatening but that's probably just rumours." Ella said.

"I should probably tell Belle just in case she doesn't know," I said.

"By the way ready for your speech?" Ella asked.

"Sort of but I'm really nervous!"

"That's good! That means you really care about being part of the council and the other members will see that." Aurora said.

We all soon headed in different directions to each of our different classes. I had Global Politics while Aurora had Conservative Society and Ella had Speech and Language.

After all my classes I headed to the school's amphitheatre where the election was being held. All candidates were greeted into the theatre and were told to stand in a straight line in the middle of the theatre.

"Welcome all!" The Student Council President boomed.

"My name is Melina and I will be your Student Council President for the year. We're going to make this quick and fast as there are a lot of candidates and we do all have lives to get on with. Only two candidates will get chosen to become part of the Student Council for the students that are in First Year. We will be going from right to left so whoever is first in the line on the right goes first. And no swapping with spots with anyone else. Please wait a few moments for the whole council to get ready."

All the members of the council wore fine robes; however, different ranks wore differently designed robes. For example, being a member was the lowest rank so they wore a simple light blue robes with just the name written in gold in fancy letters at the back while the school crest was on their chests. While President was the highest rank and the robe was the most beautiful and finest if the robes. It was a royal maroon elaborately decorated with intricate designs of flowers and important symbols on the hems, sleeves and neck of robes while the name was also decorated to look the best.

I looked to my right and heaved a sigh of relief that I wasn't near the start of the line nor the end of the line but in near the middle. This meant I didn't have extra pressure to go off with a boom. I glanced through the line and noticed a few familiar faces but none of them were people that I had ever talked with. Although, I found Chantelle as soon as I turned around as she was surrounded by a gaggle of girls. When I looked closer I realised that some were even wearing robes meaning they were part of the council and were older than her. She had supposedly already befriended more than have of the school while I only had three friends but at least they were true friends not people trying to gain popularity.

It seemed as if Chantelle was the toughest and main competition as she was popular and could easily move people to liking her.

Soon the speeches started and before I knew it was my turn and everyone's turned towards me. I gulped down my fear and nerves and spoke from my heart saying what I truly believe would make the school better and why I would be suitable for the position. I pretended to be speaking to no one and that I was in the theatre by myself. The speech ended quicker than I thought and I felt good about myself and how I performed. Maybe I wouldn't get the role but I had tried my best and spoken truly and pushed myself into doing something I wasn't comfortable doing.

When Chantelle's turn came everyone looked at her expectant for the best speech. However, it wasn't a very strong and powerful speech but she was still all the more entrancing. Even though her content wasn't good her gestures, tones and movement made up for that, making her words seem powerful even though they were useless.

"Thank you everyone, we as the council will discuss who is fit to be a member of the council and democratically vote. We will notify you soon of the successful candidates in the near future."

We all filed out of the theatre and rushed off to dorm rooms to finish homework or attend student-run clubs. I walked to my room I heard lots of girls saying how well they did or predicting who would become a member but all I could think of was heading back to my room and catching up on sleep I had missed last night.

Until someone grabbed my arm suddenly and pulled me back, I turned around to find that it was Chantelle.

"Snowy, I don't even know why you even tried to be a member of the council. Everyone knows I will get!" She hissed and with a flip of her hair she paraded away leaving me speechless and with no chance to say anything back. But I didn't care everyone knew she would get it and I didn't even know why I ran for the position in the first place.

I was too tired to think so much so as I got into my room I took a quick shower, pulled on my nightdress and flopped onto bed. As soon as my face hit the pillow was sound asleep.

"Snow wake up! SNOW WHITE WAKE UP!" Aurora shouted in my ear while shaking me.

"Is it already mourning, please just five more minutes." I pleaded.

"No it's nine o'clock at night and you can't even have a minute."

"What's the matter?" I said while half yawning.

"Belle's missing and we've looked all over the school. We thought you might know where she is," Ella said looking very concerned.

"If we don't find her or she doesn't come into her room she could get in serious trouble," Aurora said.  
>"Maybe she's in the gardens and is coming back," I said.<p>

"You're not allowed to be in the gardens after six," Ella whispered.

"Oh no!" I gasped.

"Shh… What's the matter?" Both of them whispered.

"I forgot to tell her not to go outside of the school after six!" I yelped while pulling my hair.

"We should quickly got out and get here before anything bad happens" Ella said looking very frightened.

I quickly ran over to my wardrobe and pulled on a nightrobe and some shoes and ran after Ella and Aurora who had already gone to the gardens.

I found them walking slowly and cautiously, we silently decided to head to the part of the garden were there were benches and a clear view of the beautiful beach. Just we thought Belle wasn't sitting on the bench and looking out to sea. The wind was blowing her around and making her seem like a beautiful goddess. As we were walking to quickly take her back into our room. Suddenly a bush near Belle rustled but we took no notice of it thinking it was the wind.

"Belle you need to come back to our room before we get in trouble!" I yelled.

Belle nodded and got up and started walking towards us until something suddenly leaped out the bushes. Feeling very alarmed we all ran at full speed towards Belle. The thing snatched Belle of the ground and she screamed and tried to wriggle out of its grip as it flung her over its back.  
>We all reached the thing and feeling no fear leapt and it and pulled and punched and screamed to let Belle.<p>

It turned its furry head and glared at us through its piercing blue eyes like we were annoying bugs and growled at us sending a shiver run down my spine. It quickly sped away with Belle on its back. We all hurried after it for as long as we could until our bodies couldn't move at all. All that was left of Belle was her ear-piercing screams carried by the wind.

I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed was this just a nightmare or was Belle really gone forever.


	8. Trapped!

**Belle:**

I woke up feeling a cold hard floor beneath me and shivering to the freezing weather. I slowly got up from my curled position but the ceiling was just tall enough for me to sit in without hitting my head. I was in a cage, cell or whatever you want to call it. There were huge metal bars keeping me trapped in the tiny cage but were set apart far enough that I could put my arms out.

I suddenly wondered about how I even got into this inhumane cage. But all I could remember was Snow, Ella and Aurora running towards me and then something jumping out, grabbing me, hauling me on its back and it running away at full speed.

I crawled over to the bars and started pulling them, hoping that maybe one was loose but they were as hard as steel. I pinched myself in several places so hard that if this was really a dream I would be awake by now rubbing my sore arms. Finally realising and accepting the situation I was in, I let the tears cascade down my cheeks in a flash flood. I was stuck in tiny cage which I couldn't even stand in, I had lost my friends, a chance to have a good future and most of all my father. I wondered what he was doing right now and what time it was.

I pondered whether there was anyone else here that might help me get out of here. So I wiped away the tears, got up and shouted, "Is anybody there? Please help me!"

No one replied, I couldn't even hear a mouse. Nevertheless I tried again, "Please help me get out of here!"

I listened attentively, even for the quiet clack of shoes on the floor. This time: however; I heard nearly indistinguishable whispers. I wasn't sure if it was just my mind messing with me or if there really was someone out there. So I yelled out again hoping and hoping these people were kind-hearted enough to help me and that they weren't my captors.

Suddenly I heard the whispers become louder and the murmurs turned into random words. I could make out two male voices walking towards me. I craned my neck towards the closed steel door at the other side of the room in between more cells and cages.

The door slowly opened, letting in a little light and warmth into the otherwise dark, musty and cold room.

I leaned back on the cage, this was either the moment I would be saved from whatever this was or I was just about to face something even more terrifying. I closed my eyes waiting for whatever destined had planned for me. When I opened my eyes I was surprised to see a clock and a lit and burning candle stick holder.

"How did these get here?" I said to myself.

"Is this some kind of a joke? Whoever put these come out and show yourself you coward! Let me out of here!" I yelled suddenly angry. Were they trying to see how long I could survive with just a clock and a bunch of candles.

"Bonjour Madame," something said with a thick French accent.

I quickly scanned the room for a person but the voice sounded so close, may be even right even front of me. When I looked down, I was so startled to see the candle holder hopping towards me and the clock slapping its face with its hand. I immediately backed away from the bars in fright. Who had done this to a pair of normal household objects?

"Don't be afraid Madame, we are here to take you out of this cage," the candle holder said with a calm voice while is mouth moved confirming that it was really talking.

The clock didn't seem very happy of what was happening but reluctantly walked over to the cage. He stood under the lock while the candle jumped onto its head and took out a key.

I realised that they were letting me out so quickly devised a plan to run out of the room as soon as they had unlocked the cage, find an exit out of the place and find a way back home.

"Madame we will take you to your proper room. We are extremely sorry for this poor substitute, Master found you outside unconscious hurt so he brought you inside. We had to put you in this cell until we finished preparing your room." It said politely.

"Hurry," the clock whispered to the candle holder looking anxiously at the door.

I sure knew that they were just moving me into another torturous cage so I readied for the run out of here. As soon as the lock fell off I pounced out of the cage knocking down the candle holder and clock. Even though I felt bad I knew that if I didn't take this chance I would be trapped in here forever.

I ran out of the opened steel door and ran into a classy hallway which looked like the ones back at school but more furnished and decorated. I hurried down the hallway and arrived at an intersection of two paths. I took the right one and I suddenly arrived at another intersection. I took the right again so if I had to go back I would remember which path I had taken. I went through another three intersections until I spotted an opened door at the end of the hallway spilling out some light. I really hoped that this would set me free, so I sprinted towards it. When I went through and finally realised I had gone into a bedroom the beige door had closed.

I tried turning the door knob before panicking but it seemed locked. So I pulled, tugged, yanked and banged on the door hoping someone would set me free. I knew that this was hopeless being let out of the cage first was unbelievable so how could I believe that I might have that much luck that I would be able to get back home without any problems. I leaned back on the door, slid down and curled into a ball and let the tears fall without shame.

"You sure got here quickly I thought it would take much longer for those two to bring you here." Someone said from in front of me.

I immediately glanced up and scanned the room around to find speaker. However, there was no one in the room besides myself. I stood up ready in case I was faced with an unwanted surprise. The bedroom was huge it was probably the size of the rooms back at school. However, this one was just for one person, I could tell this by the single bed with pale pink curtains draped around it, a large wardrobe, a mahogany dressing table with dozens of bottles of different lotions and potions and oak tree desk in the corner. I walked across the room to the windows which showed a specular view of the mysterious woods and gardens around the prison. The windows took up nearly the whole wall and there was only a small border around the windows.

Next to the windows was another beige door, hope poured into me, that maybe this door might lead me out. I turned the door knob and surprisingly it opened. Inside was not an escape route but rather a clean and like the rest of the prison, a very sophisticated bathroom. With a deep and long white tub, pristine shower, cream sink and the whole roomed was covered in mirrors substituting for walls. All around me I see my dirty reflection. My hair was in so many knots that it looked like a bird's nest, I had dirt all over my face and body and my simple blue dress I had worn the night before was torn into shreds. It was one of my favourite dresses as it was a dress that my mother had worn when she was a child. I slunk out of the bathroom and back into the room. I sat down in front of the windows and looked out and I suddenly knew how the caged birds that were sold in the market in my village felt. I just hoped and willed to be free, even though I hadn't even spent a whole day in this prison. Although, when I thought about it, this prison was very sophisticated and pretty. But I knew from all the books I had read that looks can be deceiving.

Feeling tired I lay on the floor and curled into a ball. Keeping out all the insecurities and fears I felt, I closed my eyes and felt myself relax.

I slowly woke up but kept my eyes closed, I sensed that I was being watched or someone was in the room. But I let go of this thought thinking about all the paranoia my mind had made up earlier in the day. I opened my eyes and I nearly had a shock seeing what was happening. All the furniture had surrounded me into a corner and at the front of the group was the candle holder and the clock.

"Dinner will be at seven o'clock in the dining room, Madame" the clock said.

"Don't miss it," the candle holder said cheerfully and then they casually walked out.

I couldn't believe what was happening, the furniture was moving back to their previous positions. The wardrobe moved right up to me that I got afraid that it might squash or run over me.

"We've got a lot of work to do, with the way you're looking," the wardrobe said in a female voice.

"What?"

"I mean we should clean you up for dinner. Master won't be there tonight but you should still look you're best even though that's going to be difficult. "It said while murmuring the last part. I pretended not hear this.

Soon a chair had pushed me on to it, took me into the bathroom and dumped me into the bath tub with a thud. Later all my clothes were stripped off me, leaving me cowering in the bath tub. The water started running by itself and suddenly soapy bubbles appeared in the warm and cleansing water. All of a sudden brushes appeared out of nowhere and started scrubbing every inch of me down. While a few dozen worked on untangling my hair, I breathed in the refreshing and beautiful smell of lavender soap. It felt very strange to be getting scrubbed down by some brushes with no one really controlling them. Feeling self- conscious I stepped out of the bath tub and three towels flew towards me. They dried me down until I felt as if I hadn't even gotten wet. Even my hair was completely dried and combed so much that it felt like silk.

I walked out of the bathroom with a bath robe and the wardrobe instantly flung its doors open revealing stacks full of dresses, skirts, blouses and so many clothes I had never even imagined.

"Let's choose something to reveal your true princess!"

Immediately a simple blue and yellow dress caught my attention.

"How about that one?" I asked pointing at the dress.

"That is too simple and cheap for a princess ,"

"But that's what I would usually wear and feel comfortable in,"

"Fine but tomorrow you will wear something fit for a princess!" The wardrobe sang.

The dress flung out of the wardrobe and my robe was taken off and replaced with the dress. It was sky blue, it had a yellow bow at the back and a yellow collar. After the dress was fitted on, the chair from dressing table came up behind me so I sat on it and was pushed in front if the dressing table. Suddenly objects from the dressing table came flying at me. My hair was brushed and tied into a ponytail with a blue ribbon, powders and glosses were applied and perfumes were prayed all around me that I thought I might soon suffocate. A pair of light blue flats appeared beside my feet so I slipped them on. I stood up and examined my reflection.

"You really do look like a princess, dear." The wardrobe said in a voice that I thought was kind.

Maybe she was exaggerating but how I looked but for once I really did feel special. I walked over to the door and turned the knob and it opened with ease. Instead of thinking about my escape route, I thought about what might be served for dinner and what the dining room looked like.


End file.
